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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet it.

'H. J. DOUGHTY.

FLEXIBLE SUPPORT FOR SHOES OR BOOTS. No. 577,843.

Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. J. DOUGHTY. I FLEXIBLE SUPPORT FOR snoas 0B. BOOTS 1 No. 577,843. Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

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llrrn Srarns FLEXIBLE SUPPORT FOR SHOES OR BOOTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 577,843, dated March 2, 1897.

Application filed April 2 3, 1896.

To aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, HENRY J. DOUGHTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flexible Supports for Shoes or Boots, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is a support for shoes adapted for use either in displaying the completed article or in facilitating the manufacture of such article; and the said support consists of a shell with certain stiffening means, as fully set forth hereinafter and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved support. Figs. 2 and 3 are sections on the lines 2 2, 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is an inverted plan view. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5, Fig. 1; Figs. 6 to 8, views illustrating modifications.

The support consists of a shell A of any suitable flexible material, as, for instance, of woven, knitted, or other material, or of woven or knitted material combined with vulcanized rubber, so as to form a flexible fabric, and internal bracing or supporting means,which aid in maintaining the form of the shell. Such supporting means will vary in character according to the character of the shell and the purpose to which the supports may be applied. For instance, the body of the shell may consist of fabric having so much stiffness that no additional bracing will be required except at the bottom, in which case the internal bracing or stiffening means may consist of a plate a, corresponding in shape and outline to the sole, as shown in Fig. 8, and if additional bracing at the side portions of the body is required this plate may extend up in the form of tongues 00 at suitable intervals, and if the body portion is of vulcanized fabric the stiffening means may be vulcanized into the body of the fabric. In other cases the stiffening means may consist of wire running along the edge of the sole and upward at the heel and along the sides, as indicated in dotted lines, Figs. 6 and '7. A preferable construction, however, is shown in Figs. 2 to 4, in which the body portion A, consisting of suitable flexible material, is braced by means of additional thicknesses of said material, as shown. Thus the edges of the sole are stiffened by strips 1) 6, extending Serial No.5 88,777. (No model.)

from the toe to the heel and conforming to the external outline of the sole and heel and having side flanges c 0, extending upward to any desired distance. By this construction the rigidity of the sole and heel, as well as the body portion of the shell, is maintained at the same time.

Whatever may be the internal stiffening means it will be seen that the same is of such a character that the body portion of the shell or both the body portion and the sole or sole and heel portion may be contracted to permit the shell to be inserted within a shoe or boot, and that the shell may then expand and constitute a support for the shoe or boot, so as to maintain it in shape while being exhibited.

One of the chief uses of the improved support, however, is in connection with the manufacture of shoes or boots of vulcanized ma terial, as, for instance, of rubber shoes or boots, in which case the material constituting the shoe or boot is brought to the proper shape. The within-described support is then inserted within the article and serves as a support for the latter during the time that it is being vulcanized, and after the vulcanization the support may be collapsed sufficiently to permit it to be readily withdrawn from the completed shoe or boot, which thus is sup ported in proper shape during vulcanization.

Without limiting myself to any special form of shell or means of bracing or stiffening the same, I claim as my invention- 1. A supportfor shoes, &c. consisting of a shoe-shaped hollow shell open at the top and having closed sides and bottom, all of flexible material, with stiffening means at the sides making the upper self-supporting, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a support for shoes, &c. of a flexible shell, stiffening means extending along the edges of the sole portion of the shell, and also projecting upward at the sides and heel, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY .J. DOUGI-ITY.

Witnesses:

F. L. FREEMAN, E. EVERETT Emma 

